The letting go of the accused in the Hashimpura murders is a sad commentary on our judicial system (In Cold Blood, April 6). It is not for the first time that the PAC in Uttar Pradesh has been found guilty in identical situations. The judiciary too seems to be taking a lax stance given the change in government. Afzal Guru was hanged without a thought, but the sentence for Dara Singh, who burned three innocents to death, has been reduced.
M.A. Ahad, Bhubaneswar
Clearly all parties, including the so-called secular ones like the Congress, BSP and SP, and not just the BJP, are equally lax when it comes to protecting the rights of minorities.
Suresh Thapaliyal, Delhi
The photographs accompanying the article are chillingly similar to those of Jews and other ‘sub-human’ races being marched to extermination camps by the Nazis.
Ramesh Ramachandra, Bangalore
This report is so depressing that it makes me wonder whether the high philosophical achievements and humanistic heritage of this country have been sacrificed at the altar of our animal instinct.
S. Shiva Ramu, Bangalore
The death of Prabhat Kaushik might have happened because of the accidental discharge of a firearm. Perhaps the two army officers were also making enquiries on similar lines. No one in Hashimpura, apart from the person who accidentally or otherwise let go of the trigger, knew about that bullet. The people who were killed after the death of Kaushik had no police records registered against them, I presume. No one who was in possession of a firearm was arrested either. Did the PAC round up anyone with a police record?
Aditya Mookerjee, Belgaum
It took the government three years to appoint a public prosecutor for the Hashimpura massacre case. From 1997 to 2000, the court issued 23 summons for the accused, but no one appeared. Such is the seriousness with which the case was prosecuted! In the 27 years it took to arrive at the shocking acquittal of all the accused, Uttar Pradesh has run through a gamut of governments—run by the Congress, the BJP, the BSP and the Samajwadi Party. Not one of these parties has shown any interest in seeing justice done.
M.M. Gurbaxani, Bangalore
Your cover story shows that justice is almost always delayed, and therefore denied, to the poor, the minorities, the marginalised. The justice system is anyway too expensive for them; and there is no way they can fight back when the oppressor is the all-powerful state.
Richa Jayal, Dehradun
Kudos to Outlook for bringing out what has for long been brushed under the carpet. Talking about state terror, even today, is considered anti-national.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
Whether Ahmedabad, Meerut or Coimbatore, Muslims are treated as third-class citizens by the state police.
T.V.S. Pandian, Thanjavur
It may not be fair to blame the judiciary for the acquittal of all accused in the Hashimpura massacre case. When it takes 13 years to reach a judgement in a simple hit-and-run case—and that after the few witnesses who remain uncompromised have their memory of the event garbled over the years—the case of a massacre by an arm of the state is bound to take much longer, and bound to reach a conclusion such as the shocking Hashimpura case acquittal.
Ashok Lal, Mumbai
